Organisers also say they had considered another topic for the march instead of the immediate withdrawel of troops from Iraq especially as Tony Blair has come through a commons grilling about the Iraq war unscathed and with his support growing. Tony Blair said; "I will not apolise for removing Saddam Hussain, he was a murderous tyrant and threat to the peace of the Middle East and the rest of the world. The world is a much better place without him". He went on to add; "you protest, it is your right, but just remember that the people of Iraq are also now free to protest aswell, thanks to the actions of coalition forces who have liberated their country".

Organisers of the European Social Forum were dealt another blow today when trade union leaders publicly stated that they did not back the European Social Forum. In a joint statement union leaders said; The European Social Forum want to use trade unions to ferment industrial unrest to bring down governments they do not agree with. That is not our job. Our job as trade union leaders is to defend our members from things like unfair dismissal and to negotiate on behalf of our members decent pay and conditions. We will not be used as political pawns by hardcore Marxist revolutionaries.